USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
60
534
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
OLIVER EVERETT, son of Ebenezer and Joanna Everett, of Dedham, was born in that town, June 11th, 1752; graduated at Harvard College in 1779; taught the school about 1776 ; was ordained pastor of the New South Church in Boston (on " Church Green," so called), January 2d, 1782, succeeding Rev. Joseph Howe, who died August 25th, 1775. Mr. Everett was dismissed, on account of ill health, May 26th, 1792, "after a ministry of ten years, having acquired a high reputation for the extraor- dinary powers of his mind." His successor was Rev. J. T. Kirkland, D.D., ordained February 5th, 1794. Mr. E. was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Norfolk County, in 1799, which office he held until his death in Dorchester, Decem- ber 19th, 1802. It is a singular fact that his elder brother Moses, for some years a cotemporary in the ministerial office (ordained in Dorchester in 1774), was compelled, for the same reason, to relinquish preaching in 1793, the year following his own resig- nation, and that, in the year 1808, Moses was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas, occasioned by the death of his brother Oliver.
He married Lucy Hill, of Boston, November 6th, 1787. She was a daughter of Alexander S. Hill, of Philadelphia. Mr. Everett had sons-Alexander H., Edward, John. (H. C. 1806, 1811, 1818.) Of these children, Hon. Edward Everett alone survives.
AARON SMITH, son of Joseph, was born in Hollis, N. H., November 3d, 1756; graduated at Harvard
535
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
College in 1777, about which time he taught the school in Dorchester, having tarried a while, it may have been, in Sudbury. " He was afterwards mas® ter of the North Latin School," North Bennet Street, Boston, " studied divinity-went to the West Indies," which is the last information we have of him. It is said that he once remarked, " he would not return till he had filled his stocking with gold."
PHILIP DRAPER, son of Timothy and Hannah Draper, was born in Dedham, March 2d, 1757; graduated at Harvard College in 1780; taught one of the schools, it is believed, the same year, and for some years subsequently ; afterwards practised as a physician in South Dedham. He married Mehita- bel, daughter of Jeremiah Kingsbury, of Dedham, and died March 21st, 1817. They had sons, Jere- miah and Moses, both graduates of Harvard Col- lege in 1808. The latter has been for many years a respected citizen of Dorchester. Jeremiah died in 1840.
SAMUEL SHUTTLESWORTH, son of Samuel and Abi- gail (Whiting) Shuttlesworth,* was born in Dedham, November 1, 1751; graduated at Harvard College in 1777; was ordained at Windsor, Vt., June 23d, 1790. After a few years, he left, and entered the profession of the law. He married Deborah Ames, sister of Fisher Ames, of Dedham, January 1st, 1792, and died in October, 1834.
* Married in Dedham, October 8th, 1744, by Rev. Thomas Balch, Mr. Samuel Shuttlesworth to Mrs. Abigail Whiting .- Dedham Records.
536
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
SAMUEL CHENEY, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth, was born in Roxbury, March 9th, 1745-6, graduat- ed at Harvard College in 1767, taught the school in Dorchester, and was for some time a teacher in the "Eliot School," in Boston. He married Rebecca Bliss, of Boston, December 29th, 1790, who is sup- posed to have been his second wife. He died at Harvard, in November, 1820, aged 74.
JONATHAN BIRD, son of Jonathan, Jr., and Ruth Bird, was born in Dorchester, March 30, 1761; gra- duated at Harvard College in 1782, about which time he probably commenced teaching school in town, in a dwelling-house on the corner of what is now Sumner and Cottage Streets, near the "Five Cor- ners." He married Ann Vincent Woodward, of Bos- ton, the 18th of February, 1806-was for some years a Justice of the Peace for the County of Suf- folk, and died November 24th, 1809.
THEOPHILUS CAPEN was son of Dea. Jonathan, Jr., and Jerusha (Talbot) Capen, and a descendant in the fifth generation from Barnard and Jane. His father was born in Dorchester, in a house lately standing at the corner of Washington and Bowdoin Streets. Removing early to Stoughton, he there be- came a large land-owner ; and, before the Revolution, was agent, under the Colonial government, for the care of the Punkapoag tribe of Indians. Theophilus was born in Stoughton, June 5th, 1760, graduated at Harvard College in 1782, and married Rachel Lambert in 1784. Soon after his graduation, he
537
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
taught the school in Dorchester, but the time thus spent by him is uncertain. It was not long, how- ever, as we find him in Bath, Me., for a while previous to 1787, and in that year preceptor, also, of a school in Sharon. It was his father's intention to educate him for the ministry; and accordingly he began to study divinity with Rev. Mr. Adams, of Stoughton, and spent much time in the compo- sition of sermons, &c. This plan was finally relin- quished, however, on account of the weakness of his voice. He again went to Bath, settled there, and was many years engaged in trading in that place ; also in Vassalborough and Augusta. He removed to Pittsford, Vt., in 1811, and resumed his former profession as teacher, which was continued for sev- eral years. In the latter part of his life Mr. C. was chiefly engaged in farming. He died in 1842, aged 82, at Chittenden, Rutland County, Vt., his wife having died six weeks previously, in her 76th year. One stone points out their graves in the burying- ground at Pittsford village, near Chittenden, with this inscription following their names and ages : " In their deaths they were not divided."
Mr. Capen possessed in full the sterling qualities which characterized his ancestors and the other early settlers of the town of Dorchester, and through many vicissitudes during a long life maintained the character of a devoted christian and a good citizen.
He had eleven children, born in Bath-seven daughters and four sons-all but one of whom lived to mature age. Five are now living-the old- est aged 73; viz., two daughters in the State of New
538
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
York; a son and daughter in Vermont, the former of whom, Jonathan Capen, Esq., has represented the town of Fairhaven in the State Legislature ; and a daughter in Maine. His other descendants, as recently ascertained, are in number as follows : - grandchildren, 45 ; great-grandchildren, 66; great- great-grandchildren, 4.
DANIEL LEEDS, JR., son of Daniel (one of the schoolmasters before mentioned) and Abigail (Gore) Leeds, was born in Dorchester, on Monday, May 7th, 1764 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1783 ; taught at different times, and in various parts of the town, commencing as early, probably, as 1784. He was the first teacher in the school-house built at the Lower Mills village, in 1802. One of his pupils thus describes this house and its surroundings. " It was perhaps 20 feet by 30-a half moon entry- a dignified desk-boys one side (the right, going in), girls the other-old fashioned seats for one and two each-a cast-iron wood stove midway the aisle, in winter-a trap door with a ring to lift, to go down cellar for wood-abundance of smoke sometimes, but none too much fire-open front yard down to the road, with rocks, apple trees, and path- ways, as one might say, in primitive state. Here was fun, play, and plenty of exercise, and in the house, no doubt, some good teaching and scholar- ship." This building was superseded by the struc- ture of 1836, and that also by the present house, erected in 1856. Mr. Leeds died at the house of his brother, in School Street, Boston, August 19th, 1811. He was unmarried.
539
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
MOSES EVERETT, JR., son of Rev. Moses and Lucy (Balch) Everett, was born November 25th, 1775 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1796 ; taught school " on the upper road," in the now Gibson School district; removed to Ohio in or about the year 1800, and died at Gallipolis, in that State, November 30th, 1814, aged 39.
Ebenezer, his brother, who graduated at Harvard College in 1806, taught school in Dorchester, com- mencing in the autumn of that year. The school in the second district, where he taught, was at that time kept for six months, in the cold season, on the lower road, now Adams Street, and the re- mainder of the year in the brick school-house, on Meeting-house Hill.
Rev. Enoch Pratt, Griffin Child, and Hon. Eben- ezer Everett, are among the few of the early teachers who now survive. Mr. Silas Randall, a native of Stow, Mass., who graduated at Brown University in 1804, was the immediate predecessor of the last- mentioned Mr. Everett in District No. 2. The con- temporaries of said Mr. E. were-in District No. 1, Mr. Nathaniel Clap (H. C. 1805); in Districts 3 and 4, Messrs. Kingsbury and Child. Charles and Tho- mas Everett, brothers of Moses Everett, Jr., and Ebenezer, were, it is believed, subsequently, for short periods, teachers in the brick school-house on Meeting-house Hill.
LEMUEL CRANE, eldest son of Elijah and Sarah (Houghton) Crane, was born in Milton, March 18th, 1757, and, with his parents, removed soon after to
540
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Canton, then a part of Stoughton. When he was about eleven years of age, he went to live in the family of Rev. Samuel Dunbar, the minister of that parish, and continued there nearly seven years. Early in the year 1776 he came to Dorchester-was a soldier in a company of militia which was detailed to guard the troops of Burgoyne, when they were prisoners at Cambridge, and was called out on vari- ous alarms at other times. In the year 1782 he bought a tract of land in the westerly part of the town, being a portion of the "Dorchester common land," sold by the town about that time. He sub- dued and cultivated a large farm, and attended the Boston market, occupying a stall in the westerly cor- ner of Faneuil Hall building for many years. Mr. Crane was very fond of pomological pursuits, and a large number of apple trees, now in a thrifty and bearing state, remain as monuments of his industry and perseverance. The house and a part of the land owned by him, is now in possession of Mr. Elihu Greenwood. Mr. C. taught the first school estab- lished in his neighborhood, in winter, from 1790 to 1797, and occasionally evening schools for ap- prentices in the paper mill, and other boys, and also a singing school, for which he was well quali- fied. He was a collector of town taxes for the years 1790 and 1792-selectman and assessor in 1793, 1803, '4 and '5; assessor, 1807-12; representative to the General Court in 1811-was usually one of the surveyors of the highways, and a member of the school committee of the district.
He married, first, Martha, daughter of John Minot,
541
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
who died, leaving one daughter, Nancy, now living ; secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Dea. Noah Davis, of Roxbury. By the latter connection, Mr. Crane had six children, four of whom are now living; one of these, Nathaniel, contributed the material for this sketch. To the same individual we are also under obligations for information concerning the Butler School (p. 457-460).
Mr. C. died on the 10th of November, 1817, in the 61st year of his age. His widow survived him twenty-two years, and died November 4th, 1839, aged 71. His father deceased in the year 1780; his mother, March 20th, 1819. As an instance of lon- gevity in the family, it may be mentioned that his mother took him one day, when young, to see two grandmothers, two great-grandmothers, and one great-great-grandmother.
Mr. Crane was modest and unassuming in his de- portment, firm in his opinions, industrious and en- terprising in business, conscientious, tolerant and liberal in his religious views, republican in politics, a pleasant friend and an honest man.
FRANCIS PERRY taught the south school in Dor- chester, previous to the 11th of June, 1791. He states, in a letter from Hallowell, Me., of the above date, that he is out of health-has had but £45 salary in Dorchester-that his expenses were £19 10s. for board, and for clothing £12-leaving him only 13s. 10d. He would like to renew his services as teacher in town, but wishes the compensation in- creased to £56.
61
542
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
JOSEPH GARDNER ANDREWS, born in Boston, Feb- ruary 7th, 1768, graduated at Harvard College in 1785. He was a physician. In a letter, written May 16th, 1792, to Ebenezer Tolman, one of the Selectmen of Dorchester, he says, "By reason of an appointment in the Federal army, I shall be necessitated to give up the school in the course of a few weeks ; " but requests "a dismission this day." The time of his decease has not been ascertained by the writer. His name is first starred in the trien- nial catalogue for 1827.
SAMUEL TOPLIFF, son of Deacon Samuel and Mary (Hall) Topliff, was born in Dorchester, Sep- tember 19th, 1770; graduated at Harvard College in 1795; taught school about 1793; was for a time a merchant in Eastport, Me .; removed afterwards to Princeton, Ill., and died in Detroit, Michigan, September 5th, 1845, aged 75. We are indebted to Joseph Palmer, M.D., of Boston (H. C. 1820), who has kindly furnished information in relation to other individuals, for the following notice of Mr. Topliff. " The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser of Monday, September 8th, 1845, gives an account of a storm on Lake Erie, on the Friday and Saturday previous, and after stating that several vessels were damaged, adds the following: 'By the boats from the West, we can gather nothing of importance in regard to ves- sels, except the sinking of the steamer New Orleans, Capt. Brundage, in the Detroit river, a short distance from Malden. The New Orleans was bound for Chicago, and had a full complement of passengers.
543
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
The steamer London took part of the passengers to Detroit. One old man, from Illinois or Wisconsin, who was in feeble health, died before reaching De- troit, supposed from fright and anxiety. He had some $10,000 worth of goods on board the boat.'
" The same paper (Buffalo Commercial), of Sep- tember 11th, says: ' The old gentleman, who had goods on board the New Orleans, and who died after arriving at Detroit, was named Samuel Topliff. His age was 60 years.'
" The Detroit Daily Advertiser, of Monday, Sep- tember 8th, 1845, says : ' A stranger, named Samuel Topliff, who had been taken on the London from the New Orleans, after her accident on Friday, died in this city on the evening of that day. The ver- dict of the coroner's jury was, that he came to his death from over-exertion, general debility and old age. The deceased was supposed to be about 60 years old. He was carefully attended during his brief illness, and his remains decently interred on Saturday afternoon-funeral services by the Rev. Dr. Duffield, at the Presbyterian Church.'
" There is a mistake in the above papers as to his age, which is stated, from conjecture, at 60. He was 75."
SAMUEL VEAZIE was born in Braintree, June 3d, 1779 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1800. He succeeded James Blake Howe in the school, District No. 2; was ordained at Freeport, Me., December 10th, 1806, as successor to Rev. Alfred Johnson. The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. John
544
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Foster, D.D., of Brighton. He married Phebe Bar- tol, of Freeport, September 1, 1808. They had no children. "In less than two years Mr. Veazie's health began to decline, and he was soon found to be in a settled consumption."
" The circumstances of his death were peculiarly distressing. On the night of February 5th, 1809, while confined to his chamber in the house of Mrs. Veazie's mother, and supposed to be near his disso- lution, the lower part of the house was discovered to be in flames. He was with difficulty removed to the house of Mr. Bartol, his brother-in-law, in one of the most severe snow storms known for many years. The exposure was thought to have accele- rated his exit, which took place the next day," in the. 30th year of his age .*
Mrs. Veazie was again married, September 1st, 1824, to the Rev. Charles Soule, of Belfast, Me., now of Amherst, in that State. She is still living.
EDWARD HOLDEN, son of Samuel and Hannah (Kelton) Holden, was born at Dorchester, August 30, 1769 ; married Anna Payson, daughter of Sam -. uel and Anna (Robinson) Payson, of Dorchester, July 31, 1791. He taught a school at Milton in his early manhood ; removed to Dorchester Lower Mills about 1799, and taught in the house of Gen. Ste- phen Badlam, on the old Plymouth road (Washing- ton Street), at the corner of what is now called River Street. He subsequently engaged in mercantile
* Greenleaf's Ecclesiastical Sketches of Maine, p. 70. Mass. Hist. Coll., 2d series, vol. 4, p. 181. .
545
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
business at No. 1 Long Wharf, in Boston, in part- nership with James Andrews. At the breaking out of the war of 1812, he relinquished this business, and was afterwards engaged as supercargo in the West India trade. The children of Edward and Anna (Payson) Holden were six sons (of whom Ed- ward, graduated at Yale College in 1812, was a lawyer, settled in Kentucky) and six daughters. Edward Holden died of rapid consumption, on his passage to Boston from St. Domingo, November 16th, 1823, in the 54th year of his age.
JAMES BLAKE HOWE, son of Abraham and Pa- tience (Blake) Howe, was born in Dorchester, March 31, 1773, and graduated at Harvard College in 1794. He was the first teacher in the brick school-house, erected on Meeting-house Hill, in 1798, having pre- viously taught in the old wooden house on the west- erly side of the hill. He was afterwards an Epis- copal clergyman, and was ordained Deacon, Novem- ber 25th, 1817; ordained Priest, May 14th, 1819 ; Rector at Claremont, N. H., September 15th, 1819 ; died September 17th, 1844. A marble tablet to his memory, with an inscription upon it, is placed in St. Mary's Church, Dorchester. He had two wives, whom he outlived. The first was Sally Adams Bad- lam (daughter of Gen. Stephen Badlam), married November 22, 1797, died January 4th, 1817; the second, Mary White, married October 12th, 1820, died August 22, 1837. He had nine children .*
See the " Blake Family," by Samuel Blake, p. 51, for further particulars.
546
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
BENJAMIN VINTON, "youngest child of Capt. John and Hephzibah (French) Vinton, of Braintree, born October 14th, 1774 ;" graduated at Harvard College in 1795; married Sarah Webb, of Quincy, in May, 1802; " studied medicine under Dr. Ephraim Wales, of Randolph, and at first settled as a physician in Marshfield. He was a surgeon's mate one year on board the U. S. frigate 'Boston,' commanded by Capt. George Little, of Marshfield, during the quasi war with France in 1799." " In 1801, Dr. Vinton settled in Quincy, where he died, May 11th, 1813," and was buried " under arms." He had two daugh- ters, who died of consumption, unmarried, at the ages of 23 and 24 .* -
SAMUEL GOULD, son of Maj. George and Rachel (Dwight, of Dedham) Gould, was born in Sutton, November 29th, 1770, from which place his parents removed, whilst he was quite young, to that part of Dedham which is now included in West Roxbury ----- studied medicine-settled in practice in Needham, and married Esther, daughter of Jonathan Kings- bury, of the latter place, April 6th, 1804. They had four children-Elizabeth, George, Sarah Kings- bury, and Mary Ann. After the death of his father, Dr. Gould returned to the old mansion in West Roxbury, and devoted his attention to agriculture. He died November 13th, 1845 ; his wife deceased January 4th, 1857. Dr. G. possessed good natural powers of mind, and highly respectable literary and
* See " Vinton Memorial," by Rev. John A. Vinton, p. 105.
547
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
professional acquirements ; of marked politeness of manner ;- to be as " polite as Dr. Gould," was to attain a high standard .*
BENJAMIN HEATON was a son of Nathaniel, of Wrentham. His mother, it is said, was Margaret (Metcalf) Heaton, of that place. He graduated at Brown University, R. I., in 1790. In the year 1796, a newspaper, called the " Columbian Minerva," was started in Dedham ; it was published by Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton. This paper was afterwards conducted by Herman Mann, Sen., who purchased the entire printing establishment in December, 1797. The "Minerva " was discontinued in 1804. This Benjamin was doubtless the teacher in the "Butler School," in Dorchester, in the winters of 1798 and '99 (ante, p. 459, where the name is incorrectly given Nathaniel). He was " near-sighted, and the boys played him some tricks in consequence of that defect." He is said to have been a good teacher. He was sometimes engaged in preaching, but was never ordained or settled as a minister. In a " Mi- nerva," published June 12, 1800, is the following obituary notice: " Died, at Wrentham, Mr. Benja- min Heaton, formerly one of the editors of the Mi- nerva." He died on the 8th day of the above-men- tioned month. Mr. H. was never married. His brother Nathaniel, it is said, published a spelling- book, called " Heaton's Spelling-Book."
The successor of Mr. Heaton, in the Butler School,
* Communicated by Abijah W. Draper, M.D., of West Roxbury.
548
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
in the winters of 1799 and 1800, was a Mr. PECK, of whom we have learned but little. "His right hand was deformed or mutilated from some cause, and he wrote with his left."
WILLIAM MONTAGUE, son of Joseph and Sarah (Henry ) Montague, was born at South Hadley, Sep- tember 23d, 1757. When a youth he served in the army, and afterwards obtained a liberal education at Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1784. .. He was ordained by Bishop White. In June, 1787, he was inducted Rector of Christ Church, in Bos- ton. Soon after his settlement there, he "visited England, and was in London in the years 1789 and '90. He was the first Episcopal clergyman, ordained in America, who preached in an English pulpit." He was connected with Christ Church till May, 1792. About this time he was invited to take charge of the Episcopal church in Ded- ham, where he remained until the year 1818, hav- ing continued with that society twenty-six years. He taught what is now the Butler School, in Dor- chester, in the winters of 1800 and 1801, " assisted by Lawrence Sprague, his student, a son of Dr. Sprague, of Dedham." Mr. Montague gave particu- lar attention, in this school, to the study of mathe- matics. He married Jane, daughter of Lemuel Lit- tle, of Marshfield, July 22d, 1801, by whom he had five children. Mr. M. died at Dedham, July 22d, 1833, in the 76th year of his age.
.
549
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
WILLIAM CHANDLER, born in Woodstock, Conn., August 24th, 1777, was a son of Winthrop and Mary (Glyssan) Chandler, of Woodstock, grandson of William and Jemima (Bradbury, of Salisbury, Mass.), great-grandson of Dea. John and Elizabeth (Douglas) Chandler, one of the early proprietors of Woodstock, who was a son of William and Annice Chandler, of Roxbury.
William (the teacher) graduated at Harvard College in 1801, and succeeded Samuel Veazie in the second school district. He is said to have been a man of fine attainments - a correct and critical scholar. Though of a constitution apparently feeble, he was a good disciplinarian, and was particularly circum- spect in preserving order in the school. He went to Nashville, Tenn., and was married. He died in 1850.
PEARLEY LYON, son of Daniel and Prudence (May) Lyon, was born in Woodstock, Conn., June 3d, 1778. He taught the " Butler School," in the winters of 1801, '2 and '3; was married to Polly Bradford, of Woodstock, Nov. 10th, 1803, and had seven children. His wife, Mary, died in 1830. He married, second, in 1835, Mary M. Whitney, who is still living. He died Feb. 11th, 1841.
" Mr. Lyon was said to be one of the most ener- getic and successful farmers in Woodstock, and took pride in making improvements, and being first in getting through with planting, haying, &c. He was liberal and public spirited, and much esteemed by his fellow citizens."*
* Letter of Ashbel Woodward, M. D., Franklin, Conn. 62
550
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
LLOYD BOWERS HALL, born in Raynham, it is be- lieved, in 1770, was a son of Col. Noah and Abiah (Dean) Hall, a family of considerable note and stand- ing in that town. The mother of Lloyd was a daughter of Thomas Dean, of the same place. Mr. Hall graduated at Brown University, R. I., in the class of 1794-studied law with James Sproat, Esq., of Taunton, but never practised. He taught the new school at the Lower Mills Village, in 1803, be- ing the successor of Daniel Leeds, Jr. Mr. H. died at Raynham, in the year 1835. He was never mar- ried.
STEPHEN HALE, son of Rev. Moses and Elizabeth Hale, was born in Boxford, Mass., about the year 1780; graduated at Harvard College in 1802; mar- ried Nancy, daughter of Abraham and Patience (Blake) Howe, of Dorchester, Dec. 6th, 1808, and died in West Newbury, at the house of his sister, Mrs. Eliphalet Emery, in the month of September, it is thought, of 1844. His wife died at the house of her brother, Rev. James Blake Howe, in Claremont, N. H., March 19th, 1829. They had three children .**
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.